ICYMI: Boston Globe Highlights Senator Hassan’s Bipartisan Effort to Tackle Unfair Hospital Facility Fees
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, the Boston Globe recently reported on U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan’s ongoing bipartisan work to stop unfair hospital facility fees. Her bipartisan legislation would help to prevent hospital systems from charging hospital facility fees for care provided at outpatient facilities located away from the hospital – like a primary care office. The bill could also save taxpayers close to $40 billion over the next decade and would reinvest those savings to strengthen the health care workforce. This effort builds on Senator Hassan's successful bipartisan work to end surprise medical billing through the No Surprises Act.
Read more from The Boston Globe here or below:
By Amanda Gokee
[…]The Northeast has the second highest percentage of hospital-owned practices in the country, with nearly 46 percent of physicians employed by hospitals, according to the Physicians Advocacy Institute. But unlike other New England states, lawmakers in New Hampshire haven’t taken action to curtail facility fees by enacting consumer or public notice requirements. Vermont is the only other state in New England that doesn’t require such notices, according to Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms.
The billing practice is something New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan is trying to address through federal legislation.
“Granite Staters who have been going to the same doctor for years are experiencing sticker shock when a hospital acquires a doctor’s office or clinic and all of a sudden starts charging extra fees for the same services,” Hassan said in a statement.
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The current lack of transparency means consumers may not be aware they’re footing a higher bill, according to Darbin Wofford, a senior health policy adviser at Third Way, a center-left think tank.
“It’s actually much worse than the patient stories would lead you to believe,” he said, noting that sometimes the facility fee is already built into the cost of services, rather than listed as a separate line item on the bill.
“They just don’t know about it, and it can be difficult often to shop around for services because of that lack of transparency,” he said.
Hassan’s legislation would require more transparency. Hospitals charging facility fees to Medicare would have to say whether a patient got care at the hospital itself or at an outpatient facility or doctor’s office.
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Routine services can cost as much as 14 percent more at a hospital-owned facility, compared to an independent practice, even if the procedure is the same, according to a 2018 study published in the Journal of Health Economics.
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“It doesn’t take too many of those kinds of expenses, and you’re out of money,” [Raymond Mercier] said.
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